Revit 2017 to 3ds Max 2017

[sirgooner]

Hey all,

 

What is the definitive way to bring a Revit model to 3ds Max, I've tried dwgs and the object is broken into thousands of individual elements, FBX I think was the same, when I link the Revit file it takes an age to come through and then similar problems with a ridiculous amount of geometry. I also tried to use the 3ds Max Export Suite, sounds great, doesn't work, just crashed 3ds Max.

 

Preferably I would like to bring all objects of one material to be brought through as one object, so I don't have to select thousands of meshes at a time.

 

I have looked around for answers but nothing seems to work particularly well, this is all Autodesk so surely something works!.. ?

 

Cheers,

 

Martin

[TomD_Arch]

in 3ds max under Import there is a Link Revit option. Use that one. Scrub your revit model first. Detach a copy from the central, save it and delete anything you don't need to see. When you go to import it into Max you will get a menu with options. Go into each one and see how it is set to bring the model in. The option you are looking for to have elements group by material is there. Be warned however you will need to re-map them.

 

Sorry this isn't more step-by-step, but I am at work and wanted to help a little.

[Francisco Penaloza]

this it been covered several time in this mere Forum, please use the search tool with the same keyboard eliminating the year version, because it hasn't changed too much really.

I always Export to FBX from REVIT, then use the Link too as explained by Thomas, I ground by materials or families, depending how messy is the mesh.

Still you need to clean stuff inside 3D Max but this is my every day workflow.

[sirgooner]

Thanks for your help Thomas, when you say 'scrub' your model in Revit first, do you mean to do some kind of purge?, I don't really use Revit so unaware of some of the clean up options it might have, also notice it can bring over thousands of shape layers which I don't need.

 

@ Francisco, as I said I have done some searching, if I enter 'Revit 3ds Max' into the search engine on this site I mostly get posts from before 2010!.. so presume something has changed in the past 6-7 years. - you say you export to FBX and then use the link tool, isn't the link tool just for a Revit file?, wouldn't you just import an FBX using the normal import workflow?

[TomD_Arch]

Thanks for your help Thomas, when you say 'scrub' your model in Revit first, do you mean to do some kind of purge?, I don't really use Revit so unaware of some of the clean up options it might have, also notice it can bring over thousands of shape layers which I don't need.

"Scrubbed" is a term we use in architecture for CAD files we get sent from others that we are going to use as a base drawing and xref it into one of our drawings. You "Scrubb", or clean it of stuff you just don't need. For example in a revit model: You may only need to render a few exterior images so you don't need to be importing all the bathroom stuff, like toilets, sinks, hand dryers, etc. Scrubb it! Desk in interior offices surrounded by walls on all four sides. Scrubb it! Stairs inside a core surrounded by CMU. Scrubb it! That's the kind of stuff that will increase the converstion and load time when you do that direct link from Revit into 3ds Max.

[Francisco Penaloza]

Thanks for your help Thomas, when you say 'scrub' your model in Revit first, do you mean to do some kind of purge?, I don't really use Revit so unaware of some of the clean up options it might have, also notice it can bring over thousands of shape layers which I don't need.

 

@ Francisco, as I said I have done some searching, if I enter 'Revit 3ds Max' into the search engine on this site I mostly get posts from before 2010!.. so presume something has changed in the past 6-7 years. - you say you export to FBX and then use the link tool, isn't the link tool just for a Revit file?, wouldn't you just import an FBX using the normal import workflow?

 

many ways to skin that cat, but here is the thing, as mentioned by Thomas, when is a one click solution it won't give you many options to have a 'cleaner workflow' it assumes that we are in a perfect world, where a Drafter model everything clean and optimized, engineers just adjust and change what's need it and so on.

Reality is that exporting or linking a REVIT model it is a big mess, all the time. If you just import you don't get options to group the mesh. If you link it you can do that also if changes happens in the REVIT, you only need to save other FBX and reload the link.

Now that even is not that simple, as mentioned by Thomas you always end up deleting or hiding extra geometry that won't contribute to your rendering.

 

I really hope that the new direct link that Autodesk is introducing works better, but for me exporting to FBX and linking to Max is what give me the bets results, I can merge later if need it any ways so is about the same.

After the model is linked I use a series of script to prepare the mesh. Instancing similar materials, deleting extra vertex, cleaning missing textures links, transforming to VRay materials and so on.

[Justin Hunt]

I have been testing 2017 Revit and 2017 Max by straight IMPORTING the Revit (RVT) file, and so far there is a bit of improvement. Firstly you do get the option to combine the meshes by Family, Material, Category and No combine.

 

I dont bring in Camera, Daylight Systems, Lights, RPC's (finally added as an option) or any BIM info

 

In Revit I set up an new view that has ONLY the elements I need, then in the import options set that that as the Revit view.

I combine by Family, I tend to avoid combining by material because it combines everything with the same material into one object, regardless what those objects are, eg you end up with structural beams, bollards and drainage covers all as the same single object, which makes editing geometry a nightmare.

 

When combining by family you get an additional dialogue box where you can choose which families you want to bring in, which is great.

 

One thing the keep an eye on if file size, I have had situations where the same Revit model brought in by different import/link options can have a file size difference of either a few 100mb to over a gig ????

 

Curved geometry is still a mess though so dont convert those to editable poly or you will just end up with jumbled faces.

[sirgooner]

Thanks all for the responses, I'll put some of those into action the next time we receive the Revit models.

 

Regarding scripts to simplify the scene it would be handy to have a script that would make instances out of any similar object, I found a couple of scripts for that but neither worked.

 

In fact any open source scripts you use to clean up a Revit scene would be great to have.

[nikoneznanovic]

you have other way, go to export - options - export setups DWG/DXF

then go to COLORS tab, use TRUE COLORS

then go to SOLIDS tab, use ACIS SOLIDS

then go to UNITS & COORDINATES setup units then ok

then just export to dwg and import into 3DS Max that is all.